This woman did not appear kidnapped, not by any stretch of the imagination. She did not look hassled. She did not look harmed.

She looked like she was vacationing.

“My love,” said Ari, approaching Sante. Her voice was low and mellifluous. It was the voice Daria had heard coming from Sante’s bedroom the night she’d broken into his house.

Sante smiled as warmly as Daria could remember him occasionally smiling at her—in another life—then reached up and pulled Ari down into his lap to kiss her. Across from them, Eleanor rolled her eyes like someone annoyed by the behavior of the newly in love.

Daria mastered her expression with effort, but managed to smile indulgently at the couple as she imagined Valerie would do. Within, her thoughts and emotions swirled in a confused tornado, threatening to overwhelm her.

Beside her, Alejandro controlled his reaction like the pro he was, though he had to be as shocked as she was.

Their acting ability was a good thing. Carlos watched them carefully from across the room with his beady dark eyes, measuring them, weighing them, as he always seemed to be measuring and weighing them.

Sante and Ari kissed for several moments. The kind of kiss that makes everyone around a couple feel like they’re intruding on an intimate moment and are voyeurs. The kiss of a couple so in love they don’t care who’s watching; they simply have to touch.

Finally they broke their embrace and Ari slid to the side, still keeping one slim leg draped over Sante’s muscular one. She glanced at Daria and Alejandro and smiled sheepishly, coloring a bit as she ran a finger around her lips to fix her lipstick.

“Forgive us,” Sante said with a shrug and a pair of broad, upturned hands. “Ari and I are newly mated. I’m sure you can understand.”

Alejandro made some polite sounds of assent, but Daria couldn’t respond. All her energy went to masking her expression.

“In addition,” Sante continued, “Ari is a new Chosen and her appetites are especially hearty. Not that I mind.” Another wolfish grin. He nodded toward Daria. “My Ari did not make it through the succubare, as you did, Valerie. It is one reason I am interested in you.”

“You’re the human who made it through?” asked Ari suddenly.

“Yes,” Daria answered smoothly. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

Ari slid from the couch and crossed the floor in a sensual movement. She knelt at Daria’s feet and took one of Daria’s hands between her palms. “I just had to touch you.” The succubare were like that. “How did you do it? I tried and tried to push through, but I couldn’t.” Tears glistened in the woman’s eyes.

“Like I told Christopher, I’m not sure. When I felt like giving up, I pushed harder.” Daria paused, glancing at Sante. “You were Chosen voluntarily, weren’t you?”

Ari bowed her head and nodded. “I knew the chances that I wouldn’t push through were great. I took them anyway because I was so in love.” She raised her head. “I don’t regret it, but I’m sorry I wasn’t strong enough to make it through.”

Such a long life lived dependent on sex; Daria could imagine she was sorry.

Sante rose and helped Ari to her feet. She seemed like such a sweet woman, soft, and vulnerable. The total opposite of her father, Richard Templeton. How could she have fallen in love with Christopher Sante?

“How did you two meet?” Alejandro asked. God bless him.

Ari smiled. “He came into Rapid City one evening. I’d gone there to demonstrate against my father’s latest crusade against the Chosen. You know my father, undoubtedly. He’s Richard Templeton.” She paused and waited for their reaction, which they gave in a couple of understanding murmurings. “Christopher was there that night, and it was love at first bite.” She smiled and it lit her entire face. “We dated in secret for a long time, until we knew we had to be together as a mated pair. So I underwent the Choosing.”

“That’s a very romantic story,” answered Daria.

“Please, her presence here is secret,” said Sante. “She travels through the dome via underground passageways. No one sees her except my inner circle. As you can understand, her father isn’t happy with this arrangement. It’s for her protection.”

“Of course,” answered Alejandro.

“If you’ll excuse us,” continued Sante. “We’re done here. I’ll let you coordinate with Eleanor for the rest.”

Alejandro and Daria watched Sante lead Ari away, her head resting on his shoulder and his arm around her waist in a loving and protective gesture.

Eleanor stood. “Well, I’ve got to go, too, but I’ll be in touch soon regarding particulars. We have a gathering tomorrow you should probably attend, very erotic. Hope you don’t mind. It’s at the Alhambra Building at midnight. See you there?”

Oh, good. An orgy. Daria could hardly wait.

“We’ll see you there,” answered Alejandro.

They followed Eleanor out of the building, Carlos staring at them the whole time. The way he looked at her made shivers of revulsion rocket up her spine. Daria was just able to control herself until they were free of the building and Eleanor had walked in the other direction.

Alejandro took her arm, perhaps sensing her impending explosion. “Just keeping walking.”

She did, concentrating on putting one foot in front of the other. They walked all the way back to the room and as soon as she closed the door she paced. “What the fuck, Alejandro? What the fuck!”

“I’m as confused as you are.”

“Do you think she’s being coerced in some way?”

Alejandro shook his head. “You saw her. Did she look coerced? I think Sante’s got a lot of power, but not that much.”

She chewed on the edge of her thumbnail. “He’s got to have an angle. He’s playing her like he played me.”

“Maybe.”

She looked up at him and stopped chewing. “Maybe? No doubt, Alejandro. Wooing and winning the daughter of Richard Templeton? Hell, and he didn’t even have to kidnap her. All he had to do was turn on the charm and seduce her away. Charm and seduce her enough to want to be Chosen?”

Alejandro ran a hand over his chin. “It does sound like Sante.”

“You think?” Bitterness gave the words a hard edge. “Bastard. He’s making this twice as hard.” It would’ve been easier to free Ari had she been willing to be freed. Sante had mind-fucked the woman but good.

“I’m calling Brandon in here.” He concentrated a moment, communicating with the other man via a mental pathway.

“What’s happened?” Brandon asked as soon as he entered the room. Apparently he hadn’t left for work yet.

They told him.

He stood stunned for a moment, stymied for words. Finally he scratched his head, stuttered a moment, and then said, “We have to entertain the possibility she’s here because they truly are in love.”

Daria leaned forward. “He’s not capable of it, Brandon.”

Brandon fixed her with a steady stare. “You have personal baggage here. Don’t let it affect the mission.” His voice was as hard as she’d ever heard it.

“I’m not saying I don’t have any, but this is not my personal baggage talking. Right now it’s my personal knowledge of this man. I was with him intimately for years. I know him better than either of you.”

“You knew the Sante he chose to present to you,” Brandon spat back. “You didn’t know the real man.”

“Stop it!” commanded Alejandro in a low voice.

Both she and Brandon froze.

“Daria, I believe Sante did love you. He was sincere when he spoke about you the other day. I believe he is capable of emotion. So Brandon is right. We do need to entertain the possibility that Sante and Ari Templeton truly are together out of love.”

Daria sat back in defeat. She couldn’t believe his words, but she was outnumbered. She sighed. “Then... we need to investigate further.”

But she knew what they’d find.

Brandon nodded. “It will be easier for you two to do that, of course, since you both have entrée into his inner circle.” He paused. “Any chance of getting me in?”

Alejandro frowned. “We don’t need you in, Brandon. You’re more valuable where you are, close to where they might be trafficking blood slaves. We work this end, you work that one.”

“Yes,” Brandon answered. “But this is more important right now, and the more hands we have in there, the better.”

“More important, tio?” Alejandro snapped. “I think finding out whether or not there are blood slaves here is pretty damn important.”

“We can handle the Ari thing,” said Daria. “Sante put us on the social patrol. That will give us lots of excuses to get friendly with people and ask questions. Anyway, we shouldn’t put everyone in the same location. If Alejandro and I get popped, you’re still undercover.”

Brandon fidgeted impatiently. “Ari Templeton is our number one priority. I demand, as highest-ranking member of this operation, that you try and get me in.”

Daria looked at Alejandro for a moment in disbelief, her blood pressure rising. What a fucking snotty little control freak. “Listen, you—”

“Fine.” Alejandro held up a hand. “We’ll try, okay, Brandon? Happy now?”

“Fucking ecstatic.”

“What’s with the tension?” Alejandro pointed at her. “I get yours. What’s up with you, Brandon?”

He yanked a hand through his hair. “Frustration. Today we’re no closer to getting anything on Sante than the day we came in here. There are potential things, the trafficking in blood slaves, possible smuggling. Now this damn trip up with Ari Templeton. It all costs us time and I don’t want to spend any more time here than we need to.”

“You’re singing my song, my friend,” Alejandro answered. “But it is what it is. Relax and we’ll do our best to get to the bottom of all of it. We caught one lucky break being let into Sante’s inner circle. We need to follow the trail of bread crumbs now.”

“You mean the one that led to the witch’s oven?” Brandon flashed a grin.

Alejandro nodded. “Yeah, but Hansel and Gretel pushed the witch in, right?” He shot Daria a glance, seeing the perplexed look on her face. “Yes, I’m familiar with children’s stories. I have a bunch of little nieces and nephews.”

Daria raised a hand. “I wasn’t judging.” She turned to Brandon. “Anyway, I thought you liked the women here and all that. Why are you in such a rush to get out of here all of a sudden?”

He shrugged. “There are women everywhere. I’ve got to go.” He pointed at them both in turn. “Get me into Sante’s inner circle if you can.” He turned and left the room.

“He just flipped his asshole switch,” muttered Daria once he’d left.

“No kidding. Look, are you okay with all this?”

“I meant what I said about not letting my personal baggage trip me up. I do have to admit I’m feeling a little for Ari Templeton right now if she is being duped, but that’s going to help me, not hinder me.”

“Get friendly with Eleanor.”

She shot him an incredulous look. “Excuse me?”

“That woman is definitely bisexual and was definitely with Sante at some point. I watched her carefully when Ari came in. They didn’t greet each other, and Eleanor was jealous as hell.” Alejandro grinned. “She’s attracted to you. It was all in her body language, so it should be easy.”

“I don’t do women,” she stated flatly.

“Just be friendly with her. Use her . . . appreciation of you to your advantage. Get close to her and subtly pump her for information. Maybe she was Sante’s last lover. Even better, maybe she’s Sante’s current lover, sidelined while he takes Richard Templeton’s beloved daughter for a ride.”

“I’ll do my best.” She sat for a moment, thinking. “Can you imagine what Richard Templeton would do if he knew his only daughter has fallen in love with a Chosen?”

“Worse, that she allowed herself to be Chosen? That she is now succubare?”

Daria nodded. “Imagine the shame he’d feel.” She couldn’t help a little smile. “God, that would be awesome.”

“But would leave us nowhere closer to pinning Sante with anything.”

Her smile faded. “Yeah.” She stood. “I’m going to the factory.”

“I don’t think they want us back there anymore.”

She shrugged. “Got a whole day to fill. Might as well stuff some teddy bears. I still want a shot at entry into that packaging room. Anyway, I like Jia Ying and the others.”

His voice lowered. “I can think of better ways to spend the day than making teddy bears.”

She smiled at him as she went for the door. “Work, Alejandro. Work.”

But he could imagine what Daria was thinking right now.

He’d set up the meeting between Ari, Daria, and Alejandro on purpose, of course. Christopher needed Daria to understand they were truly in love, he and Ari. He needed to know what her reaction to that information would be before he took any further steps. If she backed off, fine.

If she didn’t . . .

If Daria meant to split them up, bring Ari back to grovel at the feet of her hating, bigoted father, then his next move would be a violent one.

He supposed it had been a risk, showing Ari to them, but better that than having them sneak around the compound looking for an abducted woman. Even though Ari had told her father she was in love with him before she left Rapid City and was leaving volutarily, Richard Templeton had reported her kidnapped.

Sante reached down and fingered a tendril of Ari’s hair, letting it slip through his fingers.

He hadn’t told Ari yet, not about anything. He’d only told her, for her own protection, that she needed to stay well away from everyone in the dome but his inner circle, the so-called board of directors. He hadn’t told her about her father, hadn’t told her there were ABI and GBC agents here looking for her. She didn’t need to know any of that. She was still recuperating from the Choosing and couldn’t handle any added stress.

Anyway, he’d take care of her. Nothing would harm Ari. He’d die before he allowed her to be hurt.

His plan now was to make sure Daria understood Ari was truly here by choice, that he was in love with her. He knew Daria’s doubting mind well enough to understand that she likely believed he was duping Ari, just like he’d duped her in the beginning.

Daria was a cynical woman, and Christopher knew that she’d probably only grown more so over the years . . . because of him.

The idea made his chest feel heavy.

So he turned his thoughts to the day he’d met Ari.

She’d been standing along the street in Rapid City, the sound of traffic, honking, and chanting filling the air. Ari had been among the hundreds who’d shown up that day in protest of Richard Templeton and The New Covenant Church, who had been meeting to figure out solutions to the Chosen “problem.” Everywhere Templeton and his minions went, they were greeted with protesters.

Christopher had happened to be in Rapid City on Shining Way business when this meeting had occurred and had stopped by to see the circus.

Ari had just been standing there in the throng, hands thrust deeply into her blue winter coat to ward off the chill. Not holding a sign. Not chanting.

Even though she’d been wearing a hat and a pair of sunglasses, Christopher had still recognized her. It was her long hair that did it, the tilt of her full lips, the slightly larger than average nose. He’d seen pictures of the only daughter of Richard Templeton and thought her pretty . . . for being the undoubtedly twisted progeny of his race’s worst enemy.

He’d strolled straight to her and asked what she thought she was doing there. He’d been pissed off, thinking she was spying for her father. She’d been nervous at first, shaken that he’d recognized her so easily. After all, her father did all he could to keep her out of the spotlight. Her face wasn’t exactly a household image.

Then she’d been pissed he’d questioned her presence at the rally. She stood there on the street, went toe-to-toe with him and yelled into his face that she had a right to be there just like every other person who wanted equal rights for the Chosen.

Intrigued and wondering if she was telling the truth, Christopher had invited her for coffee. They’d stayed at the rally until it was over, then had walked to the nearest café and talked for hours.

That had been the beginning.

They’d dated for a long time. During that part of his life, Christopher hadn’t spent much time at the Shining Way, instead giving over management of almost all operations to Carlos. Sante had wanted to be wherever Ari was, mostly at her place in Rapid City.

During that time he’d learned what a hard life Ari had lived under the iron fist of her father, the dreams she’d had of becoming an artist dashed by his controlling hand. Richard Templeton had his daughter’s life mapped out for her and if she deviated, there was hell to pay.

She was a soft woman, strong-willed like her father, but in a quiet way. She had the temperament of an artist—she loved to do oil paintings—and was very emotional, sometimes scarily vulnerable. She was a woman who begged by her very existence to be cared for and protected.

Sometimes Christopher wondered if Ari hadn’t fallen in love with him and decided to be Chosen all just to spite her father. If, on some level only a psychiatrist could plumb, she was using him.

He ran his finger down her cheek. Christopher was so in love with her, he wasn’t sure he cared. Deep in his heart he knew it wasn’t true, anyway.

This relationship was good and solid, not doomed to fail the way the relationship he’d had with Daria had been. He leaned down and kissed Ari’s forehead.

He wasn’t going to screw this up, and he wasn’t going to lose her.